The Crafty Writer's

Check out some books by your tutor Fiona Veitch Smith … (click on the book covers to find out more)

Are you a beginner writer? Do you know you want to put pen to paper but not know where to start? This eight-session online creative writing course will give you an introduction to the basic elements of creative writing, from prose fiction to poetry. The course is entirely free and you can work through it at your own pace. The exercises are designed to help you start writing and self-analyse your work. Feedback from a tutor will not be provided. However, you may ask questions along the way if there is something you don’t understand about how the course is put together. Post them in the comments box. If you have any questions about how the course operates before contacting me please check out the FAQ list on the menu above which covers pretty much everything – and that includes how to get started and whether or not it’s really free!

Please note: This is a free course but that does not mean you will receive free critiques of your writing. The critiquing service mentioned in the FAQ is separate to this course. I do not give feedback on the exercises. If you would like me to give my professional opinion on your creative writing beyond this course please contact me for a quote. There is a link to these rates on the FAQ page.

And now, back to the fun (and free!) stuff. The creative writing course will cover:

Releasing your Creativity
Explore how to tap into your creativity, and whether you are naturally more inclined towards writing poetry or prose.

How to write a short story
A look at how writing a short story differs from writing a novel, and some tips on short story structure.

I’ll mention helpful books and other useful resources as we go, which you can buy or borrow from your library – how you get hold of them is up to you, but try to get a look at them. If you click on the book cover it will take you to the book on Amazon. A very useful book on creative writing in general is The Creative Writing Coursebook. Please note however, this is not a ‘text book’ for this course – it’s just a book I have personally found useful. You do not need to get this book, or for that matter any book to do the course. But of course, it will help deepen your learning if you do.

288 comments on “Contents”

I Want to enhance my writing skill in order to be more creative on my blog postings that has been running for three years now. I also want to make my second book a lot better than the one i wrote this year.

Hi,
I am from Pakistan and English is a second language for me. But I am very fond of English literature. I have written a few stories but could not get them published – I have lost count of rejections. What do you advise me to do? I am willing to take a course and even pay for it, if it can improve my work.
Regards,

Hello Sohail, publishing is hard work. It took me 15 years of rejections before I had my first adult novel published. However, if you feel you need more help then there are a number of good online courses. I only know of British ones but if you check with them they will be able to tell you whether or not they take international students. Firstly try the Open University who do take international students http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/a215/index.shtml

Hi Acelyn, it’s available, free online to everyone. What you see here is what you get so obviously anyone can access it. I would say though that it would suit people 14+ simply because of the language level.

I hope this class is free i am a young girl who. Wants to learn how to write. Learning how to write a short story and poetry. I also need to learn how to layout a proper outline. For a story I also need to learn how to use proper grammer. I also need to learn how to make my story flow. Thank you email me the information.
I live in Westminster , MD.

That depends on how long the book is and also how much rewriting is required. On average though it will be around £1000. However, if extensive interviews are required and you need coaching on how to actually write your story in the first place, that will be more.

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Welcome to The Crafty Writer's free online creative writing course, presented by Fiona Veitch Smith, a freelance journalist, editor, author, playwright, screenwriter and writing teacher. I hope that you'll see a dramatic improvement in the quality of your writing as you work through this course. Contact me.

What you have said:

“Thanks so much for this. Reading is therapeutic for me because I always felt like there was someone out there who thought exactly the same as me and is able to put it in words so much better than I could. I’ve always wanted to do the same which is how I came about finding this course. I’m not really looking to write for a living so it helps that you’re doing this for free…I couldn’t have pursued it as a hobby otherwise;)
Thanks!”

- Jewelle

“I have really enjoyed doing these exercises so far, I have so many Ideas and sometimes I come to write them down and get a block, by doing these Exercises I have found that my thoughts seem to flow easier on paper.”

- Cath

“I have worked my way through the exercises and found them to be really helpful. The ’show don’t tell’ advice is something I always struggle with. It is beginning to make more sense now.”